Lions walking Market Street

April 19, 2012

On April 21, Lions will be seen along the Market Street corridor between Western Reserve Road and U.S. 224. They won't be the dangerous African wildlife, but will be members of the Boardman Lions Club, who have adopted that stretch of highway for clean up through the Ohio Department Of Transportation.

According to Boardman Lions Public relations coordinator Judy Jones, the club has been involved with the cleanup of Market Street for the past 15 years.

"There was a need in the community so we took it on," Jones said. "We are always looking for ways to help."

The project is coordinated through Lion Terry Shears and ODOT.

She said the section of Market Street was on an ODOT list of highways available for adoption. The local Lions members decided to take it on and ODOT installed signs close to U.S. 224 that reads, "Adopt A Highway Litter Control. Boardman Lions Club."

The April 21 clean up is just the beginning of this year's efforts. The club holds six such events from April through September to keep the area clean. The effort does make a difference.

"We usually get around 35 bags of trash," Jones said.

She said the team, normally six to eight Lions Club members, meet at Eat-N-Park at 9 a.m. From that central starting point, a team heads south on Market and another heads north. The clean up usually takes about two hours with the members returning to the starting point.

At each sweep, six to eight Lions Club volunteers remove trash and debris from the berms and area adjacent to the highway. Jones said the teams will be well marked and motorists should use caution when they see the teams working.

"Please be extra careful when you see the volunteers in their brightly colored vests," she said.